The next time change in Switzerland will take place on Sunday, 27 October 2024 at 03h local time, to switch to winter time. The clocks will then be set back one hour. This means that it gets light earlier in the morning and dark earlier in the evening.
Remember this:
Daylight Saving Time (“DST”) is the practice of moving the clocks forward one hour from Standard Time during the summer months and changing them back again in the fall.
The general idea is that this allows us all to use natural daylight better: moving the clocks forward one hour in the spring grants us more daylight during summer evenings, while moving clocks back one hour in the fall grants us more daylight during winter mornings.
Reset your clocks to standard time
Daylight saving time will come to an end on Sunday, 27 October 2024 at 3am, clocks will go back to 2am. The clocks will not switch to winter time, as there is only standard time and summer time.
In recent years, the possible abolition of the annual time change has become the subject of political debate. However, not all decisions have yet been taken, either at European Union level or in individual countries.
Switzerland is monitoring developments in neighboring countries. It will carefully study the relevance of a possible adaptation of official time and its interest for our country. Until further notice, the current regulations remain in force. So it can already be said today that next spring, on Sunday, 30 March 2025 to be precise, we will be switching back to summer time.
Both at the time of the introduction of Central European time at the end of the 19th century, and when the time change was introduced in Switzerland in the 1980s, the Federal Council and Parliament agreed to align official time with that of our neighboring states. This decision was primarily motivated by economic considerations. An official time that differed from that of our neighboring countries would turn Switzerland into a time island, with all the consequences that such a difference would entail.
Standard time, not winter time
The autumn time change is often associated with the fact that at the end of October, clocks go from lʼheure dʼété to lʼheure dʼhiver. But in reality, there is only standard time and lʼheure d'été. For over 125 years, standard time in Switzerland has been lʼheure dʼEurope centrale.
Switzerland introduced daylight saving time in the middle of the Second World War. This was a temporary measure intended solely for wartime use.
When, in 1976, neighboring countries decided to adopt daylight saving time as a permanent measure, Switzerland thwarted the move with a series of referendums. But resistance didn't last long: Switzerland's geographical position in the heart of Central Europe disrupted the country's rail network, forcing the country to capitulate.
The first directive on time change was officially adopted by the European Union (EU) in 1980, and the measure finally came into force in Switzerland on the 1st of January 1981. Subsequent attempts to abolish it - such as those by Christoph Blocher in 1982 - all failed.
Why does the time change at 3am?
Since 1996, although each time zone is different, the changes are made at the same time everywhere. In the European Union, winter time is changed simultaneously on the same day at the same time, i.e. from the last Sunday in October to the last Sunday in March. The switchover time, 3am on a Sunday, has been chosen to minimize any risk of disruption to transport and telecommunications.
How to change the clock on Sunday October 27?
On the night of Saturday, 26 October to Sunday, 27 October 2024, you'll have to get ready to switch from winter time and say goodbye to summer time. This means that at 3am we'll turn back the clocks by one hour, from 3am to 2am. Most of us stiill have one or two clocks that need to be changed by hand.
